


up above the world so high

by animad



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-01 07:58:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18331895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animad/pseuds/animad
Summary: a moment taken for themselves at the end of a day full of family





	up above the world so high

It’s the end of the night, all the food and drinks have been taken inside and Dan and Phil find themselves stood outside, alone, in the back garden of the Lester property. The rest of the clan have probably made their way to the living room by now, ready for that movie night they’d all just been talking about. 

Dan looks around, his empty wine glass in hand. Phil’s already started heading back inside to join the party but Dan isn’t ready just yet. He feels content and slightly lightheaded from an entire evening of good company and good conversation and several glasses of the more expensive supermarket red and now he needs a moment to stop and just take it all in. He loves all the Lesters’ to pieces but a house full of them is a lot. 

So he plonks himself down on the grass right where he’s stood, next to the wicken garden table and hodge podge of chairs taken from all over the house, and sets his wine glass down on the grass beside him. It immediately falls over but it’s empty anyway. The last remaining drops pool into the curve of its side. 

When Phil turns back to make sure Dan is following him, he stops.

“What are you doing?” Phil says, frowning at Dan, but smiling all the same. He walks back and sits down cross-legged next to Dan. Dan lies back, straightening his legs out in front of him. There’s a beat before he says:

“I don’t appreciate the stars enough.” Phil’s previously bemused expression relaxes as he lies back to join Dan on the slightly dewy grass. He doesn’t say anything; this a moment of Dan giving voice the thoughts in his head, not one that needs Phil’s input so he just listens. “We can’t see the stars from London, I don’t appreciate them until I’m somewhere like this. They’re beautiful.”

They are indeed beautiful. It’s a clear summer night, and even the largest town on the Isle of Man can’t even begin to compete with the light pollution of London. Which means the truer darkness of space looms deep and dark and entirely visible above them. But it’s not empty; it’s littered with a thousand points of light, light older than Phil could even possibly begin to comprehend. He understands why people can become so obsessed with the stars, can dedicate their entire lives to understanding and unravelling even the smallest of threads the universe will grant them. 

He remembers standing at his bedroom window as a kid, staring out at in awe at the vastness of it all, asking his brother every question that popped into his tiny mind as if he held all the answers. Martyn, of course, would humour his little brother and answer his questions to the best of his abilities, at least for a little while anyway, then he was just told to go ask Dad or to shut up and go to sleep.

But, he and Dan lay there on the grass in silence for several minutes appreciating the sight, the only sound each other breathing, the occasional car, or the loudest of the muffled voices from inside reaching them across the garden. He picks out some of the same constellations his brother had taught him back then, the same constellations he takes the time to notice whenever he has a clear enough view of the night sky.

Eventually, the garden lights turn off from the lack of movement, plunging them into even more darkness than before. They still see inside the house but Phil doesn’t think anyone will be able to see them now unless they were really trying. 

Phil feels a pinky wrap around his own, he squeezes around it and turns his head to face Dan. 

“Shut up.” Dan says, quietly. Phil turns back to face the sky, a small smile tugging at his lips. He brings their hands up to his mouth slowly and kisses the back of Dan’s hand before letting them rest on his chest. 

“I want to live somewhere we can see the stars properly, one day.” Dan says, still not facing Phil. Phil thinks this is one Dan-thought he’s allowed to comment on.

“Wouldn’t you miss the city?” He asks

Dan hums, thinking. “I like the city,” he says. “But we could retire to the country, when we’re old.”

“When the robots take over.”

“Right,” Dan says, huffing a laugh. “We could keep chickens,-”

“I though you were vegan?”

“Fine, no chickens.”

“But I want chickens.”

Dan rolls his eyes, and Phil giggles. “Sorry,” he says. “Continue.”

“We could keep chicken,” Dan repeats, giving Phil a look as he does. “And grow vegetables.” His voice has turned back to that soft, whistleful tone he uses whenever he speaks into existence his hopes and dreams when the lights are off and they’re wrapped up in warm, cosy sheets back home. “A couple spare rooms for when the kids come and visit.”

Phil tilts his head to rest on Dan’s shoulder. “And some dogs.”

Dan nods, “as many dogs as you want.”

They’re silent for a few minutes more, playing out this new hypothetical future in their heads. Then Dan lets go of Phil’s hand and rolls on top of him, holding himself up on his elbows either side of Phil’s head. He moves slowly as to not active the lights and Phil parts his legs slightly to let Dan’s rest in between and rests his hands on Dan’s hips under his shirt that has risen up slightly. Dan lowers his head to lightly press his lips to Phil’s.

“We could get married on this island.” He whispers.

“Fly your family over and have the ceremony on the beach.”

“Nothing fancy,” Dan agrees. “Wouldn’t even need shoes.”

“We’d need them to walk back to the house,” Phil says.

“Nah, we can just stay on the beach forever.”

“But it gets really cold in winter.”

“Then we’ll build a house there.”

“What about food? I don’t think we’d be allowed to build a house on the beach, it’d probably sink anyway. And the tide comes in twice a day, we’d be flooded-”

“Shh,” Dan says, kissing Phil quiet. 

Phil starts smiling against him, which makes Dan smile too, and the kiss turns into teeth colliding. Phil strokes his thumbs over the bare skin of Dan’s hips, moving his hands up and down Dan’s sides gently. 

“We’d make it work.” Dan says against Phil’s lips. Then kisses him again more deeply, hands holding the sides of his face, an appreciation and acknowledgement of the moment and each other, after a day spent in the company of other people. 

Suddenly, their moment is flooded with light and Dan looks behind him. Kath is stood in the kitchen window, looking sheepish with a hand raised in an apology, clearly not having realised they were there. Dan smiles back at her and she gestures in the direction of the living room before flicking a switch and the lights go off again. 

“Looks like they’re about to put the movie on.” Dan says, looking back down at Phil.

“Hmm,” Phil says. “We’ve already seen it.”

Dan laughs. “Come on,” he rolls off Phil and stands up, pulling Phil up with him, collecting his discarded glass on the way. He doesn’t let go of Phil’s hand as he guides them through to everyone else gathered around the TV.

They settle together onto one of the few remaining seats which looks side on at the TV. But it’s fine because like Phil said, they’ve seen the film before, and Dan doesn’t reckon either of them will manage it to the end anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!
> 
> [reblog](http://yourfriendlyblogstalker.tumblr.com/post/183921692485/up-above-the-world-so-high)


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